Chart: States With The Most Fortune 500 Companies

When it comes to choosing a location for company headquarters, it’s not surprising that Fortune 500 CEOs generally stick to areas with a large and firmly established socioeconomic presence. Take a look:

As one might expect, the group of states with the most Fortune 500 companies pretty well mirrors that of the general population, with California (54), New York (52) and Texas (52) completely dominating every other state.

In fact, those three states house nearly one third of America’s top companies. Not only that, but the top 10 states have 64 percent of all Fortune 500 company headquarters.

Most states have five or less Fortune 500 companies, and 12 states are completely left out in the cold with zero.

Now before you start singing more praises to Silicon Valley, check out the following chart showing Fortune 500 company headquarters per capita:

As with the first chart, right away you’ll notice the East dominates the West, but what’s particularly impressive is New York, which, despite having a large population, still has enough Fortune 500 companies to land it in the top ten on the per capita chart.

Per capita, Washington, DC tops the list, followed by Connecticut and Minnesota.

Still, while these charts are interesting, don’t take them too seriously. Many of these companies have been around for decades — and often by default, their locations. Today’s entrepreneurs should focus on choosing a location that’s best for all their stakeholders.